Shower bath spray head



May. 15, 1934. SIMMONS SHOWER BATH SPRAY HEAD Filed July 5, 1929 /LQ" 3. I

Patented May 15, 1934.

sHowEn BATH SPRAY HEAD Leo Simmons, Washington, D. C.; Berkeley L. Simmons and The National Savings and Trust Company, executors of said Leo Simmons, deceased, assignors to Speakman Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Appliation July s, 1929, serial No. 375,769 4 claims. (onzas-144) The object of this invention is to provide a shower bath spray head of improved construction whereby the jet forming water passages can be easily cleansed of clogging sediment and the 5 like by the action of the water flowing therethrough and whereby adjustment is easily effected to vary the spread of the discharged jets and the force thereof.

And a further object of the invention is to provide certain improvements in details of construction and arrangements of parts for the production of a highly efllcient advantageous shower bath spray head.

With the foregoing and other objects in view my invention consists in certain novel features in construction, operation, and in combination as more fully and particularly described and specied hereinafter.

AReferring to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 .is a perspective view showing the spray head of my invention supported by the water supply pipe leading thereto from the pressureA l water supply system of a building, the peculiar spiral or inclined direction of the water jets from the spray head being indicated.

Fig. 2 shows the spray head in center vertical section, the bottom disk or closure thereof being shown at approximately its limit of .upward movement.

Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective showing the parts of the spray head separated, the casing being ,shown in vertical section.

In the drawing I show an approximately bellshaped hollow casing 1 having reduced internally threaded nipple 1a at its upper end. The 'lower portion of this casing lprovides an internally cylindrical vertical wall or surface 1b at its lower` end terminating in an annular depending skirt 1c of preferably downwardly flaring enlarged internal diameter with respect to the internal diameter of the cylindrical portion 1b. The bell-shaped casingA 1 is preferably imperforate except at its upper end where it is formed with the screw threaded bore opening vertically through the nipple 1a.

'The head including the casing 1 is supported from the laterally extending pressure water supply pipe to and through the medium of elbow 3 secured to the outer end of said pipe, and `the tubular water inlet member- 4 threaded at its upper end and screwed into and through the threaded bore of the nipple 1a and projecting upwardly therefrom to enter and mesh with the internal screw threads of the elbow 3. The tubular member 4 depends centrally and vertically within the casing 1 .and has lateral water. outlet openings 4a into the interior of the casing. The

lower end of the tubular water supply member 4 is closed below' the level of the water outlets 4a and is longitudinally tapped from its lower end upwardly to form screw threaded socket 4b for the reception of the screw 5 rigid with andl upstanding from the knurled adjusting screw head 5b, so that rotation of the head 5b will cause elevation thereof or allow the same to descend as the screw 5 meshing with the threaded bore 4b screws upwardly or downwardly in said bore according to the direction of rotation.

' This headed screw 5, 5b, controls the elevation of the closure disk 6 within the lower end of the casing.

T'his closure disk is formed with a central depending hub 6a having a vertical bore alinedwith the bore 4b of the' tubular member 4, for the upward passage of the screw 5. The flat bottom end face of the hub 6a rests on the flat top face of the nut head 5b.

At its central top portion the closure disk 6 is provided with a depressed cylindrical seat providing a bottom abutment for the coiledM expansion spring '7 compressed between the oor of said seat and the upper end inner wall of the casing 1, and loosely surrounding thetubular water inlet member 4. This expansion spring is designed to hold the disk 6 downwardly under tension against the adjusting screw head 5b and to maintain the parts against looseness.

The disk 6 closes the lower end of the bell or casing 1 except for the jet forming water passages in the circumference of the disk, as hereinafter set forth.

The disk is formed with an imperf'orate rim portion 6b of substantial vertical length. The vertical length of the circumferential or outer surface of this rim portion is approximately equal and not less than, the vertical length of the cylindrical'portion 1b of the casing. The circumferential surface of this rim portion 6b more or less snugly fits the inner surface of the casing cylindrical portion 1b with a. running llt, a fit designed to reduce to the minimum water leakage, exceptl through the passages lhereinafter described. y

The disk provides an annular series of jet forming passages leading from the pressure water chamber in the casing for discharge of the spray below the casing and disk, and in the example shown these passages are provided for by annular series of uniformly spaced grooves'l or gulleys 8 formed across the circumference of the disk rim opening at their upper ends through the top surface of the disk-and gradually decreasing in depth downwardly and at their shallow lower ends opening through the bottom edge of the disk rim. Each groove 8 is approximately U-shape in cross, section-and all of these spaced grooves 8 are inclined in the same direction uniformly around the circumference of the disk at an angle say of about more or less from the longitudinal vertical axis of the disk. The vertical inner wall surface of the casing cylindrical portion 1'b surrounds all of these grooves 8 and forms the vertical outer wall closing the grooves.

The pressure water discharges through these grooves-8 in the form of an annular descending curtain of more or less high pressure jets of water. By reason of the uniform inclination of the grooves these jets are discharged downwardly and outwardly at an angle from the vertical in such manner that the jets on one side of the water curtain descend at a diierent angle from those on the diametric'ally opposite side -of the water curtain so that a person standing outside of 'the curtain and looking through diametrically opposite portions thereof apparently observes the optical illusion of crossing'jets of water forming diamond shaped figures. This annular curtain of descending inclined jets is of advantage in that the jets strike the body at an angle and a greater area of the body is directly engaged by the impinging jets than where the jets fall in direct vertical lines.

In Fig.l 2 the disk 6 is approximately at its limit of upward movement'with the lower ends of the downwardly contracting grooves 8 en- 'circled by the lower portion of the cylindrical wall 1b of the casing and hence the discharge ends of the grooves are in this adjustment of f minimum capacity. To increase the capacity of the outlet ends of the grooves 8 and consequently to increase the size of each descending water jet, the adjusting screw head 5b is rotated in a direction to descend and hence permit the spring 'I to force down the disk 6 in the casing 1 until the rim of the disk 6 drops to the desired extent below the level of the lower end of the casing cylindrical portion 1b.- It is obvious that this-downward adjustment of the vdisk 6 enlarges the capacity of the outlet-ends of the grooves 8. When the disk is thus adjusted downwardly the spread of the annular curtain of jets is restrained by the de- .pending skirt 1c of the casing.

To cleanse the grooves 8 of the disk from sediment and other deposits that may tend to contract and reduce the capacity thereof, the disk 6 is lowered by adjustment of the screw 5, 5b, until the disk rim and its grooves 8 are exposedwithin and possibly slightly below the enlarged skirt 1c of the casing, and the down rush of pressure water from the casing past the circumference of the disk and within the skirt 1c will thor'- oughly wash out the grooves and the intervening circumferential portion of the disk rim.

To prevent possible downward leakage of pressure water along the circumferential portions of the disk rim thatintervned between the grooves 8, I- preferably form horizontal grooves 8c in the circumference of the rim intermediate the top and bottom faces ofthe riin, connecting adjacent grooves. 8, so that downward leakage of water along the circumference of the disk rim be,- tween grooves 8 willl be intercepted by horizontal grooves, 8c and `delivered into the, various jet forming channels'- or grooves 8.

Also, the disk supporting and adjusting assembly is such that the disk can be droppedl down to expose its vertically grooved circumference below the casing'skirt to permit access to the grooves for cleansing and inspection, if so desired, or if need be, the supporting and adjusting screw can be rotated in the proper direction 4until it detaches from the threaded socket of its supporting member 4, so that the closure disk is separated from the casing. After such separation, the parts can be easily and quickly reassembled in operative position at the desired relative adjustment between closure disk and casing.

While I do not wish to limit all features of my invention to the inclination of the jet forming water discharge passages with respect to the longitudinal axis of the casing or with respect to the center line of the bottom closure disk, yet an advantage is gained by such specific arrangement as hereinbefore pointed out; and. also I do not wish to limit all featuresof my invention to the combination exactly as disclosed wherein the jet forming gulleys or'groovesfare formed in the circumference of the vertically adjustable closure disk that ts and is encircled by the hollowA casing as the arrangement might be reversed with the gulleys or grooves in an inner annular flange or enlargement of the casing fitting the smooth circumference of the vertically adjustable closure disk to permit flushing 'or cleansing of the grooves and variation in the capacities of the discharge ends of the grocves," by vertical adjustment of the disk, as hereinbefore described in connection with the particular embodiment illustrated, and it is also obvious that my invention is not limited to the employment, of the springas broadly mechanical' equivalent screw threaded means can be employed without a spring, to positively raise and lower the disk with or without rotating thedisk; and that various other changes, departures and modifications might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as dened by the following claims construed in the lightof the prior art.

1. A spray head embodyinga housing having an open bottom, a tubular water inlet -member depending in the housing, a closure disk vertically adjustable in the housing, a vertical element V supporting the disk from said inlet member and. rotatable with-respect thereto and having screw threaded connection with said inlet membervand provided with accessible operating means. for

rotating the element to raise and lower the disk, 130

said disk having an annular series of spaced discharge jet forming grooves in itscircumference normally surrounded and laterally closed by the annular inner surface of the casing.

2. A shower bath spray head including an open end casing having a pressure water inlet; and a disk in said casing to close said open end; a screw threaded connection being provided for supporting the disk from the casing, the circum- Isure waterchamber discharging into all of said discharge passages to minimize outward presof the casing to provide the pressure water jety forming outlets from the casing, the disk being shaped to provide a circumferential water pressure reducing channel intercepting and opening into all of said grooves above their outer ends and at its outer side covered by the surrounding inner surface of the casing to reduce longitudinal outward pressure water leakage along the inner surface of the casing and the circumference of the disk between the grooves, and connne `the water discharge to the jet forming outlets.

4. A shower bath spray head comprising a hollow casing with a circular opening at the outer end of a cylindrical internal wall portion, a closure disc iltting in said opening and adjustable axially of said opening to protrude more or less therefrom and formed with longitudinally extending peripheral grooves, said grooves increasing in cross section along their lengths as the distance from the front face of the disc increases whereby the effective discharge area of the jet oriilce formed by the Wall of each groove and the part of said cylindrical wall portion at the outer side of the groove may be varied by axial adjustment of the disc relative to the casing to cause more or less of the peripheral edge of the disc to protrude from said opening, and means for so axially adjusting said disc comprising a part including a knob in front of the central portion of the disc and a stem connected to said knob and passing axially through and rotatable in said disc, and a threaded connection within said casing between the latter and said partand a compression spring within said casing acting between the latter and said disc.

LEO SIMMONS. 

